The Baltic American Line, was a shipping company, established by the Danish

East Asiatic Company The EAC Invest A/S, formerly known as the Santa Fe Group and East Asiatic Company ( da, italic=yes, Det Østasiatiske Kompagni or ''ØK'') is a multinational holding and investment company, based in Copenhagen, Denmark. History The East Asiat ...

in 1920.

Origins

The East Asiatic Company's subsidiary

Russian American Line The Russian American Line was a subsidiary steamship line of the East Asiatic Company that was in business from 1900 until the time of the Russian Revolution in 1917. In 1906 it began passenger service from Libau to New York after the Hamburg A ...

began sailing to

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

in 1900, continuing until 1917. In the aftermath of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and the 1917

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...

, Poland and the

Baltic countries The Baltic states, et, Balti riigid or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term, which currently is used to group three countries: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, ...

had become independent states, and the city of

Liepāja Liepāja (; liv, Līepõ; see #Names and toponymy, other names) is a state city in western Latvia, located on the Baltic Sea. It is the largest-city in the Kurzeme Planning Region, Kurzeme Region and the third-largest city in the country after R ...

(Libau) was in newly independent

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

. The ships were transferred to the newly created Baltic American Line. The East Asiatic Company's Liepāja-registered ships all had Russian names, so the company renamed them with the names of the newly independent states: Latvia (ex-Russija, built 1908), Polonia (ex-Kursk, built 1910),

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

(ex-Czar, built 1912) and

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

(ex-Czaritza, built 1915). The ''Latvia'' was sold in 1923 to a Japanese shipping company and renamed the Fuso Maru, she was later torpedoed during World War II. The Baltic America Line offered passenger service between the ports of

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, Danzig, Liepāja and Halifax. They offered intermediate class accommodations for First Class, Cabin, Tourist and Third Class passengers. The ships continued the service under the Danish flag from 1921 to 1930.

Sale to Poland

The Danish owners became eager to sell their interests as in 1931 the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

authorities severely reduced immigrant quotas and the line was threatened with bankruptcy. In 1930 the East Asiatic Company sold its Latvian subsidiary, with the remaining three ships, to Polish owners who renamed the company ''Polskie Transatlantyckie Towarzystwo Okrętowe'' (Polish Transatlantic Shipping Company Limited or PTTO). The ships were operated by

Gdynia America Line ''Gdynia-America Shipping Lines S.A.'' (Gdynia America Line - GAL) was a Polish-Danish joint stock company based in Gdynia, established in 1930 under the name of the ''Polish Transatlantic Shipping Company Limited'' (PTTO) in order to mark the P ...

, which was restructured in 1934 to absorb PTTO. Initially captains were provided by the Danish side, and Polish captains acted as doubles, preparing for independent command of the ships.

Fleet

* ''Latvia'' (ex-''Russija'', built 1908, later ) * (ex-''Kursk'', built 1910) * ''

'' (ex-''Czar'', built 1912) * ''

'' (ex-''Czaritza'', built 1915)

References

{{ref list Transport companies established in 1920 Defunct shipping companies Shipping companies of Poland Defunct companies of Poland Transatlantic shipping companies